


Keywords

by emil (popps)



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Canon Compliant, Drabble Collection, Feels, Friendship, Gen, Identity Issues, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, KH100Words Drabble Challenge, May contain spoilers, No Romance, No Slash, No shipping
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-15
Updated: 2020-06-16
Packaged: 2021-03-03 22:00:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 1,540
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24742702
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/popps/pseuds/emil
Summary: A series of 100-word drabbles within the world of Kingdom Hearts. Created as part of the KH100Words writing prompt challenge in October 2017.Miscellaneous characters, canon-based.
Kudos: 4





	1. AFFECTION :: AXEL

**Author's Note:**

> For best reading experience, set view on the top of the page to "Entire Work" rather than "Chapter by Chapter".

_Can you feel the comfort of the warmth of my skin flow into you like the final rays of light_

_that used to escape over the horizon to grace your cheeks?_

_Filled with flames, with secrets, with lies, but still supposedly empty._

_Maybe, not all of us have hearts._

_I have to sort out my feelings, but how long will that take_

_when my memories of how to feel them are stale?_

_Let me start by keeping you close,_

_putting everything that I am and am not on the table and asking what to do next._

_And… you’ll show me._

▲

[100]


	2. HATRED :: XION

_Boiling._

_Twisting._

_The echo of a loud clang of metal bouncing on the stone_

_was a vicious spike stabbing into their ears_

_like the sharp point of that devil’s wing._

_Trembling._

_Screaming._

_No soul would bother to turn back_

_as the rage overflowed into a frustrated cry._

_Empty._

_Burning._

_The impostor dared to turn those words around_

_when they were the ones hiding behind their cloak._

_Pounding._

_Sobbing._

_The crush of defeat seeping under their skin_

_as the words stabbed into the heart they didn’t have._

_I’m the shell?_

_The heartless one is you, Riku._

_I am not a sham._

▲

[100]


	3. FAITH :: KAIRI

_Promises, bottled letters on the ocean._

_Floating on the waves where they may never find their intended hands._

_And yet, the hope that those letters contain extends_

_far past where the ocean of a small world peters off into the expanse of the universe beyond._

_Your heart will be your guiding key, guiding you to the very essence of my words,_

_even if the bottle rests at the bottom of the sea forever._

_Believe that while we look up at the sky we share, one star shines brighter than the rest._

_That star leads us home._

_All three of us._

▲

[100]


	4. BETRAYAL :: SAÏX

_When you’re promised the moon and only given a black-clouded night,_

_to whom does the blame fall?_

_The rays of its looming silvers and golds_

_feel just beyond grasping fingers helplessly reaching for the delivery of more._

_He wished for more._

_More than the shimmer of precious metal that crushed the blue from his eyes._

_More than the carving of a brand into the flesh of his face._

_He wanted more, but to whom does blame fall?_

_Promised the return of a heart unjustly stolen._

_Promised the everlasting power that shines so heavenly above._

_To whom does he cry out?_

▲

[100]


	5. FORGIVENESS :: RIKU

_Always on the edge of falling._

_Relentless, just a desperate claw upwards._

_Weary, calloused fingertips dug into the sides of this pit of Darkness,_

_knowing full well the clutches of the eternal plunge below awaiting his inevitable slip._

_Never would he see the break of that Dawn he claimed to walk towards,_

_Never would he deserve the glow of Light on his skin again,_

_but he’d be damned if he spent a second resting._

_That hand reached out to him, familiar._

_The Darkness reminded: **Unworthy, Unworthy of that Light.**_

_He knew the climb was not over,_

_“…because Sora needs me.”_

▲

[100]


	6. REVENGE :: LUXORD

_Ah, so this is the game you wished to play. I must admit, I hadn’t thought you the sort._

_Who am I kidding, of course I did!_

_Angry? No, the life of a pawn suited me well._

_I can’t very well hold it against you and your lovely company,_

_gambling away a poor hand for the piece wearing the crown._

_I’ve no need for such petty games._

_That wouldn’t be an effective use of my time, would it?_

_Ah, my dear Roxas. I offer you but a smile, a well-wish from the bottom of my heart._

_Until next time, then._

▲

[100]


	7. DESTINY :: MASTER XEHANORT

_Under the light of the heart of hearts, no sun will rise._

_It quivers in fear of its glow, the power that cannot be grasped in the hands of a single man alone._

_But never shall man be dissuaded by what is possible._

_Shall that single man lament his loss? No._

_To find is to lose, but to lose is to find. If man hold but one key, it is to discovery._

_Lament for no lost thought._

_Could one man hold that everlasting shine if he had not two hands, but twenty-six?_

_If one man were not one, but thirteen?_

▲

[100]


	8. HEALING :: VENTUS

**_“ You’ve always lived here with us.”_ **

_Scraped knees stung dully within the hazy borders of a forged memory._

_A tissue gingerly catching the drips from a child’s reddened nostrils,_

_protests wheezed out through choked gulps of air._

_Insistent “can’t can’t can’t!” met a tender smile alongside the application of a bandage._

_Words of encouragement breezed into his ears as the weight of one familiar hand fell to ruffle blonde locks_

_while another offered him the board to try again._

_Atop his forehead was placed a motherly kiss, a charm that could mend any heart._

_Maybe one more try couldn’t hurt._

▲

[100]


	9. REMEMBER :: THE CHILDREN OF RADIANT GARDEN

_We still hear the water trickling through the town’s fountain._

_The cheers and playful murmurs of young hearts,_

_bouncing from a sugar high before the sea-salt ever touched their lips._

_It’s a shared dream, the sounds of a child’s memory._

_The pixelated boom of digital explosions and exasperated groans at Game Over screens_

_harmonizing with the quiet hum of a bumblebee_

_performing a quality inspection on flowers lovingly picked for a family._

_An instrument practiced by fumbling fingers singing an earnest sour tune,_

_melodically lining the streets with nostalgia_

_for smaller counts of birthday candles and a world called Home._

▲

[100]


	10. HURT :: RIKU

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content Warnings: abusive home, children in distress.

* * *

_Shattered bottles and the echoes of grown-up words_

_being screeched across the narrow rooms of a broken home._

_Sinking into the wallpaper, filling the air._

_The heavy thud of a racing heartbeat under cupped palms on tiny ears._

_The twist of a shuddering stomach,_

_defiance and fear warring with each silent scoot down the next stair._

_Timing the placement of small fingers fiddling with the lock_

_where the breaking of glass or the hammer of a fist on a wall– or through it– would mask the sound._

_Rushed footsteps escaping out the door to the beach,_

_met with the beaming smile of an upbeat brunette and the man who never realized he protected them both._

_“Riku! Ready to go out on the boat?”_

_“Yeah. Ready.”_

▲

[125]


	11. FORGET :: NAMINÉ

_Fingertips brushing away the shavings of colored pencils,_

_each stroke of the heel of her hand along the paper feeling heavier and heavier._

_Pictures she'd drawn before, so recently._

_Muscle memory acted as a guide to push her forward,_

_but the image held an emptiness she had so briefly thought she would never experience again._

_She halfheartedly threw rationalization at the barriers to her will,_

_echoes of dehumanization ringing in her ears._

_The original images had been crowded._

_A true artist knows how to utilize white space._

_Delightful colors fell like snowflakes into her lap, white cloth smudged, ruined, stained._

▲

[100]


	12. PEACE :: KAIRI'S GRANDMOTHER

_Harmonizing with the hum of a lullaby was the creak of wood screws_

_faithfully hugging the woven cords of bamboo to the frame._

_With the rhythm of a gentle sway forward and back,_

_a comforting nudge of worn slippers against the floor lulled the newborn to rest._

_Beneath heavy lids lay a reflection of cobalt blue she'd passed down to someone this small herself,_

_to her beloved baby boy once eased to sleep in this very chair._

_A bright tuft of delicate red buried in a knitted cap, a living memory of her fallen son,_

_a pure light of innocence._

▲

[100]


	13. WAR :: ACED

_...yet none hold my fear._

_What weakness is keeping me from harnessing my supposed strength?_

_The power that the Master saw in me, to be able to stand at my brother's side, to be able to lead my wielders._

_Perhaps inaction is expected._

_But if we are to do nothing and wait for it to come crashing down around us,_

_extinguishing the Light from our world and hearts,_

_why can we not stand in solidarity to do so?_

_Is there no one who will be beside me that day?_

_Is it wrong to not want to face the Darkness alone?_

▲

[100]


	14. BALANCE :: MASTER AQUA

_A Friend first, a Master second._

_Where does that leave Leader, Tactician, Mother, Companion, Lover, Wife?_

_The roles we place on this scale of perception,_

_asking the impression we make on every new face that gazes upon ours._

_Do they view you as a gallant hero, riding in on a steed of Light_

_to destroy the dragon of Darkness terrorizing their lives?_

_Do they instead see the nurturing matriarch wrapping her arms around a fearful child,_

_soothing them with gentle words and lullabies?_

_How does one control that?_

_And when are you forced to choose which Aqua you really are?_

▲

[100]


	15. COMFORT :: SORA

_This warmth, I've... felt it before._

_When I close my eyes, I can see you._

_I see... you._

_After all this time, where I thought I'd lost you, where I reached out for your hand over and over._

_No matter how many times you held it out to me, you knew that I would always reach for it._

_You knew._

_And as much as it hurts that you didn't reach for me now, I know it's going to be okay._

_We made a promise, and I'm gonna make sure to keep it. Forever._

_And... we're together now,_

_because_

_**Riku's here.** _

▲

[100]


End file.
